I Can See Your Soul
by Halloween Fitzpatrick
Summary: When Allen was with Mana he met a strange girl, now that girl has come back into his life and knows how he was before Mana died. And he does not want his friends to find out.
1. The Little Elf

**A little girl ,no older than seven or eight, sat at the side of the street watching as people passed her. She was trying to keep tears from rolling down her face. She was cold, hungry and in quite a bit of pain. Her entire body was bruised from the beating she had received earlier, her feet cracked and bleeding from her lack of shoes.**

As she watched the passing people she saw, as she always did, strange and terrifying ghost-like things hovering above some of them, with chains clasped around their necks, as if to bind them to that person. Not only did she see them she also heard their cries as they begged for freedom. They often made her feel spoiled for complaining about her life while they floated there completely helpless to their situation.

Since she was in deep thought she did not notice the clown that had stopped to stare at her. "Mana" the clown looked away from the girl to see his foster son glaring at him, crossing his arms as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Don't you think we should help her, Allen?" the clown asked, in a cheerful voice, nodding his head at the child.

Allen walked over to see who Mana was talking about. A girl, who couldn't be much older then him, was sitting on the side of the street, staring off into space, with eyes that looked like that of a demon, blood red with slit pupils. Her long hair was a blueish-purple colour, pulled back in a sloppy half ponytail, exposing elf-like ears. She wore what looked like a pillowcase with arm holes, and her feet were bare, cracked and bleeding. Her body covered with bruises. All in all, she was a mess.

But this didn't faze Allen, as he had grown up in a similar way.

He glared up at his guardian. "No" he said flatly.

"Allen, don't be so cold hearted!" Mana said with a pouting face.

"This happens all the time. There are always kids who have been abandoned 'cause they look weird" Allen said, speaking from experience. "Now lets go, or we'll miss the train"

The clown frowned. Ignoring his son he walked over to the girl and crouched down beside her. "Hello" he said in his cheerful voice, trying not to startle her.

Her head turned to look at the clown.

"Ma~na!" Allen bemoaned angrily.

Again ignoring him Mana asked "What's your name?"

The girl looked at him suspiciously not sure whether to answer or not.

Seeing her eyes squint in suspicion, the clown said "It's alright. I won't hurt you"

"Idiot! Don't tell 'er that!" Allen said angrily, slamming his palm into his forehead.

"Why not?" asked Mana.

"'Cause that's what they all say, dumbass!"

"Huh?"

"Agh!" he groaned in frustration at his guardians ignorance. He walked up to the girl looked her straight in the eye and said "Look he may seem sketchy but he's tryin' ta help and he probably won't leave ya alone 'til ya let 'im, 'kay?"

The girl searched the boy's eyes, looking for any hint of deception, but found none. Looking back at the clearly confused clown she said. "I don't have a name"

"Well then" he said jumping up from his squat "we'll just have to fix that!"

Now the girl looked confused.

Crouching down Mana picked up the little thing and started to walk down the street.

"Mana!" Mana turned "The train station is this way!" called Allen, pointing in the opposite direction.

"But we're not going to the train station" he said and continued walking.

"W-what?!" Allen yelled, but the clown didn't stop.

Groaning once again Allen picked up the suitcase Mana had left behind and ran after them.

_

The little elf girl - Allen deciding that's what he would call her - was fast asleep in Mana's arms as he and Allen walked for what seemed like hours. As they entered the inn Mana saw a sitting area and putting the the little elf on Allen's back, told him to go sit down.

Sighing Allen did as he was told as Mana went to the counter where the innkeeper sat reading a book.

Looking up the innkeeper was bit perplexed to see a clown at the desk but shook it off and greeted him "Hey there, what can I do ya for?" he smiled.

"One room please" said the clown smiling back.

"Sure thing"

The Innkeeper walked into a back room and came out with a key. "Here's your key. You are in the second room on the right" he said passing Mana the key and pointing to the stars that lead to the sleeping quarters.

"Thank you" he said.

"So ya get us a room?" Mana turned to see Allen standing behind him with a drowsy looking elf behind him.

"Yep, shall we go?"

Allen only scoffed and turned away walking in the direction of the room, elf in tow.

-

The room was small with a double bed against one wall, and a dresser against the other. There was no bathroom, probably had to use a public one, and the window was small letting in little light. But at least its warm... Allen thought, as he recalled some of the other, not so nice Inns they had stayed in.

Looking over at at the girl beside him he saw a dazed look on her face, she was probably trying to convince herself she wasn't dreaming.

"Well then" Mana said looking at the two children smiling. "how about I go change and we can go get something to eat, hm?"

"Just hurry up" Allen muttered

Chuckling the clown opened his suitcase dug out some clothes and left to go change, leaving Allen and the girl alone.

Looking back to the girl Allen said "Ya shouldn't get too used to this, ya ain't stayin'"

She looked over at him, "I know" she said, looking straight into his eyes.

"Good" he murmured looking away from her intense stare.

"Well that feels better" Mana said as he re-entered the room, now wearing a long black coat and top hat.

"Now lets go eat" Allen said.

"Hold up, Allen"

"Agh! What?" he asked angrily.

"The little elf can't go out dressed like that"

"Huh?"

Mana then pointed at the girl. "It's cold outside. She needs clothes, lend her some of yours will you? You look about the same size"

Allen stared at Mana mouth hanging open.

"Like hell! It ain't like she's stayin' with us"

Mana's brow furrowed "And why not?"

"Are ya- ya can't go around takin' in every damn stray ya find!"

"Allen. I took you in, what's so bad about taking her in? Besides we'd have more money because she could help with the circus jobs.

Allen's jaw clenched. He knew there was no real reason why she couldn't stay, but he didn't want anyone else with them. He wanted it to just be him and Mana.

"Allen...?" Mana asked.

Throwing up his hands in frustration he said "Fine! Whatever!"

"Great! I'll go and ask for cheap restaurant suggestions" Mana once again left the room.

Sighing Allen rummaged through the suitcase to find his only other change of clothes and boots and handed them to the girl.

She looked at him for second then took them. Then she began to pull the pillowcase off her body.

"W-what are you doing?" Allen asked, as his cheeks heated up.

"Changing" the girl said.

"Go to the bathroom and change," he said looking away.

She gave him a confused look.

He sighed "Never mind" and turned around, his face and ears as red as cherries.

After a few minutes she was finished changing. She now wore brown pants with patches on the knees, a white long sleeved button down shirt, and a gray vest, though she was reluctant to put the boots on.

"Here" she looked up to see Allen holding out a roll of bandages.

"Thanks" she said taking the roll and and sitting down, began trying to rap her feet but was having trouble.

Allen sighed and took the roll from her and bandaging her feet instead. When he was done he handed her the boots which she put on, and offered his hand to help her stand.

She took it.

When she was up he quickly let go and walked to the door.

"Let's go" he said, and she quickly followed.

- 


	2. She really is a Demon

**After Allen and the elf had gone to meet with Mana down stairs, they set off in search of the diner that the Innkeeper had suggested.**

"Mana" Allen called

Mana turned.

"Where exactly is this diner?"

"Hmmm... Over there?" Mana said pointing off in a random direction.

"Agh! Stupid clown! ya don't even know where it is do ya!?" Allen yelled.

Mana said nothing at first, then pointed in a different direction "That way?"

Watching as Allen yelled at his father, the little elf reached forward and and grabbed the young boy's sleeve.

"What?" he snapped.

"It's right there" she nodded her head at the restaurant across the street. Over top of the restaurants door was a sign that said "WALTER'S DINER".

"See" Mana said quickly moving his finger to where the child had gestured "I do know where it is."

"That's 'cause-" Allen shut his mouth knowing there was no point in arguing with the nutcase.

Shaking his arm free from the elf's grip he made off towards the the diner, leaving Mana and the elf in his dust.

As they entered the restaurant the smell of food reached their noses making their mouths water at the thought of warm food filling their stomachs.

A waitress, seeing customers enter, walked over to them.

"Hello" she said with a sweet smile.

"Table for two?" she asked not able to see the little girl behind Mana's leg.

"Three actually" said the man pushing the child out from behind him.

As soon as the woman saw her she shrieked dropping her tray.

"Wha-what are you doing bringing that demon in here!?" she cried, backing away.

Allen saw a sad look on the little elf's face as the woman yelled and screeched. Getting annoyed he snapped "Calm the hell down ya old hag!" and grabbing her by the wrist he stormed out of the place, dragging the girl behind him.

After running for a few blocks, Allen hauled the young girl into an alley and stopped.

"Allen" said the elf "we left Mana behind"

Allen wheeled around to face her.

"This. Is. All. Your. Fault!" he screamed, making her flinch.

"If it wasn't for ye'r freakazoid looks this wouldn't've happened!" Allen knew he wasn't being fair, but he was mad. Mana was such an airhead, he didn't even think of what could happen if he brought the elf inside. Not that he had either - being so focused on food - but Mana was a grownup, he should always take things like this into consideration.

"We shoulda just left you on the street to freeze y'er ass off! But n~o 'we should help her Allen'. I swear I'm gonna-"

"Then go!" the elf shouted, interrupting Allen, and giving him quite a shock. "I never asked you guy's to help me!"

He stood there speechless.

"If you don't want to be around me, leave!"

Recovering, he retorted "I would love to. But Mana would never let me"

"So what? Why should what Mana says matter?" she spat "He's your dad right? What's he gonna do? Abandon you?."

Now he was really pissed. She had crossed a line she really shouldn't have crossed. The thought of Mana leaving him was the one thing Allen feared most, and having her even suggest it, well that wasn't helping his nerves.

Unable to control his anger the boy slapped the elf so hard she crashed to the ground, wobbled a bit as she put her hands out to break her fall, then collapsed.

Allen froze, gaping at her in shock at what he had just done, waiting for her to get up. But she didn't. The blood drained from his face when he realized: he had hit her with his left hand.

He took a step towards her and called out in a shaky voice "E-elf?"

No answer.

"Elf?" he called again.

Nothing.

His heart was pounding like crazy as he scrambled over to her, gently pulled her into his arms, Cradling her head, he tried to asses the damage. The right side of her face had begun to swell, her bottom lip was bleeding, and on the left side, starting at her ear was a gash that zigzagged a bit, then straightened under her eye, and ended at her nose.

"Come on, bumbass... wake up" whispered Allen.

He looked around to see what had caused such a wound. And right where she had fallen was a crate that had a nail sticking out of it.

"Shit..."

"Allen! Little Elf!"

Allen whipped his head around when he heard Mana calling, trembled in terror. What if he hates me for what I've done to Elf? What if he leaves me?

Quickly he picked up the unconscious elf and and hid, holding the her close to his chest as he waited for Mana to pass. And he did. But Allen didn't move, he just sat there as cold wind from the atom night blew through the alley.

You selfish jerk... he thought in shame.

Not only had he hurt Elf, but he had also hid from Mana because he was afraid of what the dumb clown would think of him. While the girl in his arms probably needed medical attention.

But still he stayed.

-

Morning came and without realizing it, Allen had fallen asleep. Blinking, he looked down at the girl he was holding and gasped.

"Her wounds..." he whispered "they're healed!?"

There was still blood on her face, but she had no bruised, her lip looked fine, and the cut on her face, the one that was obviously deep, was now nothing but a scar.

"H-how..."

Suddenly the elf's eyes opened. Making Allen jump.

Glaring at the boy she said "You hit me" and pushed him away.

"Yeah..." he trailed off.

"'Yeah? Thats all you have to say?"

Allen ducked his head.

"I never wanted to be like them..." He whispered, just loud enough for the girl to hear.

"Like them?" she asked.

The boy stood up and took off his coat and began to unbutton his shirt. Slipped out of he revealed a gruesomely deformed left arm.

The elf gasped.

"Before Mana adopted me I was a aren boy who worked for a traveling circus" Allen started to explain. "I was beatin' up almost every day, usually by this guy named Kojimo, and I thought that if ever someone else was the one bein' hit 'cause people couldn't accept them, that at least I would never do it."

Tears started to run down his face, that was twisted in pain.

"But thats what I did to you..."

Suddenly the girl felt... even more pissed off.

"That..."

Allen looked up.

"That... THAT'S THE BEST EXCUSE YOU CAN COME UP WITH?" she shrieked. Punching him so hard blood splattered from his nose as he fell back.

"W-what was that for!?" the boy asked "I was trying to say 'I'm sorry' and that I know what you've been though!"

A murderous aura seemed to form around the elf as she said "I don't give a rats ass what you're childhood was like or whether or not you understand my feelings..." Her eyes glinting with rage.

"No one, especially some arrogant beansprout like you, hits me and gets away with it"

Allen looked at the now demonic girl with confusion.

"But, when we found you you were all beaten and bruised."

"Yeah" she said grinning evilly "from fighting with them, and leaving them unconscious in a heap of rubbish"

The boy's blood ran cold.

"Now, lets go fine Mana before I leave you in a pile of rubbish"

And with that she walked away.

As Allen watched her go he thought What kind of monster have we picked up? 


	3. The Rings

It was about 10:30 in the morning when Allen and the elf made it back to the Inn, suspecting that's where Mana would be. As they walked inside they were both greeted with a bop on the head. Looking up the children saw their foster father, with a very worried look on his face, which is not an emotion he showed often.

"Where have you been?" he asked, frowning.

"We-" the boy stopped, his face going pale 'Oh no, Mana will find out what I did to elf'

"When Allen took me from the restaurant we ran into some drunk guys who said that I was a demon, so we ran away and hid until morning to make sure they had stopped chasing us."

Allen looked at the girl. Had she just covered for him?

"Is that where this came from?" Mana questioned, pointing at the scar on her face.

"Yeah"

The boy was expecting the clown to ask why is was a scar and not a open wound, seeing as she had just gotten it last night, but he said nothing.

"Well then," the worry on Mana's face was replaced with a stupid grin "now that we're all back together, I thought that we could go shopping"

"Huh?" both Allen and the girl gave him a confused look.

"Well the little miss here can't wear your clothes forever Allen. She has to have some of her own," said the man in his usually cheerful voice, "and that reminds me..."

Mana looked at the little elf.

"You don't have a name yet my dear"

Looking a little surprised the girl said "Well, what should my name be?"

The clown stroked his non-existent beard "Eddyline?"

She grimaced.

"Sally?"

That one made Allen snort.

Mana pouted and and looked at the boy "Well do you have a suggestion?

He thought for a moment then said "Damon"

Mana and the elf blinked at him.

"What?"

"Well, isn't that a boy's name?" asked the clown.

The boy only shrugged "So?"

"I like it" the two males looked at the girl.

"Damon it is then" the man said enthusiastically.

Allen only scoffed and looked away, trying to hide the slight, smile that found it's way to his lips.

With that Mana grabbed both children by the hands, and whisked them out of the Inn, and for the first time in a very long time, the now named girl, laughed with whole hearted happiness.

-

_We were supposed to go shopping for clothes, but Mana seemed to be a very easily distracted person. He was in and out of so many different stores, pointing out everything to me and Allen, and saying how nice it was or how useful it could be. And though his son acted like he was annoyed, in reality I knew he was having as much fun as the old clown was._

"Oh look! Look, you two!" Mana said pointing to a old second hand shop. "I bet we can find some very cute clothes for Damon to wear in there"

"I guess" said Allen, as he began to walk towards it, Mana and I fallowing.

_It was an old looking shop, with creaky wood flooring and candle lit lanterns that hung from the ceiling. Over in the right corner were some bookshelves with well used, as well as cared for, books, on the right were quite a few racks, with men's, women's and children's clothing, and at the far back there was some old furniture and the what looked like the shop counter._

"May I help you?" asked a frail old man that walked out from behind one of the bookshelves.

"Oh yes" Mana said smiling. "we are looking for some clothes for my daughter"

_I gave the man a shocked look, which he returned with a wink, making me blush like an idiot._

_I turned my face away from him, trying to hide my embarrassment, and tensed when I felt the old mans eyes fall on me. I waited, expecting him to make a comment on my appearance, but he simply turned away saying_ "If you would come to the back of the store with me, I think I have just the thing"

We went with the man who then asked us to stay at the shop counter as he disappeared into a back room and came back out with a paper bag "These are some new clothes that just came in this morning, I haven't put them out yet, but I think there's something in here that would suit you perfectly little one" he said with a warm smile.

_After rummaging through the the clothes he seemed to find what he was looking for and pulled a navy blue turtleneck dress, and a black coat and stockings._ He held them out to me and said "Does it suit your tastes?"

"Ah, yeah" I said a little nervously, no stranger, besides Mana of course, had ever treated me with such kindness. It was kinda freaking me out.

_After changing, I looked in the mirror. The dress I was now wearing was faded, and came down to my knees, and the jacket was a little big, but at least the stockings fit. _

_While Mana payed I explored the shop, and found a small toy bin. Inside were some trains, a few blocks, some dolls, and what looked like a jewelry box. I held it up and examined it, there was a keyhole in front and the box itself was black with silver swirls that decorated the top and sides, I searched for the key but couldn't find it._

"Lookin' for this" said Allen, holding the the object in question in front of my face.

"Ah, yes" I reached for it but he quickly pulled it away.

Scowling I said "Give it here"

"Hm... nope" he turned around and ran, me chasing after him box in hand.

"Allen I'm serious!"

_But he only gave me a mischievous smile and continued to avoid me, obviously enjoying our game of tag. I was starting to enjoy it, too._

_While chasing him I tripped, and the box flew out of my hand and crashed onto the floor breaking apart, and exposing the treasures inside. _

_Allen and I froze as we saw the jewelry from the box begin to glow. Scrambling over, I picked up the glowing items and gazed at them in wonder. There were two silver twin rings engraved with a swirl pattern, much like the box they came in, and in the middle of each was a cross shaped emerald from which the glowing originated._

_I looked at Allen who was staring at them over my shoulder._

"Well" he said, his gaze meeting mine "aren't ya gonna put them on?"

_So I did, expecting them to be much too big, and I was right until the emeralds glowed even brighter, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut. When the light died down it revealed that the rings now fit perfectly._

Gasping I tried to take them off, but they wouldn't budge. I glanced over in the direction Mana and the old man stood. "Um...Mana"

He turned to me. "Yes what is it?"

I held up my hands. "These rings won't come off"

He raised one eyebrow a walked over to me, and taking my hands in his own he attempted to get them off, but to no avail.

"Shopkeeper" the old man looked at the Mana "Just what kind of rings are these?"

When the man saw my hands his face paled, taking a shaky step back he said "Y-you should leave"

"Why?" Asked Allen, looking suspiciously at the shopkeeper

"What about the rings" I added.

The old man shook his head violently "Don't worry about it just go!" he said in a panic "please..."

Mana hauled me off the ground "Well you heard the man, Damon, Allen, let's go" and with a bow to the shop clerk, Mana shoved us out the door and into the streets.

Looking back I almost felt as if something bad was gonna happen to the shop keeper.  
Almost.

The shop owner watched the man with the top hat push his children out the door, then slipped into the back room of the shop. Sighing he said to himself "Perhaps he won't find out."

"Who won't find out about what?"

The old man turned to see a young girl standing behind him.

"W-who are you?"

The girl smiled, sending a shiver down the man's spine "My name is Road Kamelot, now what were you talking about?"


	4. The Singing Angel

As Allen tried to fall back asleep he could feel something warm beside him, he cuddled up to it sighing, and was about to drift off back to dreamland when he felt a finger poke his face. When he opened his eyes he saw that his face was inches away from Damon's. Yelping he jumped back only to fall on the floor.

"The hell, Elf?" Allen scowled, standing up.

"What?" she asked "you were the one snuggling with me"

"W-well ya could'a told me to get off" he said, red faced.

"But I didn't want to"

"What? why?"

"Cause you were warm"

He blushed an even brighter red, if that was even possible.

"Ye're an idiot..." he murmured. Then looking around their room of the inn Allen noticed that Mana wasn't there.

"Hey, Elf where's Mana?"

"He said he needed to make a phone call about a possible job" she replied, then frowned "hey it's been three days since you gave me a name. Why don't you ever use it?"

"I just gave ya a name cause Mana said ya needed one and having one of those girly names he thought of wouldn't 'ave suited ya, thats all"

"Do you do everything Mana wants?"

"Shut up"

Allen walked over to the side of the room where the suitcase was and began to dig through it, looking for their clothes. Finding them he handed Damon hers and she started to undress.

"Elf! I said ta dress in the bathroom."

She gave him a confused look "But why would I walk all the way to the bathroom when I can just change here?"

Turning away from her he said "Cause girls shouldn't change in front of boys"

Still looking confused she ignored his discomfort and continued to change, leaving him to covering his eyes and blush like a moron again.

When they were finished changing they put their boots on and walked out of the room and down to the main area.

"Hey, Alex" they had learned the Innkeeper name, "where's Mana?" Allen asked.

"Oh hey kiddos, ye're papa is over there" Alex nodded towards where the children's guardian stood talking on the phone.

"Thanks"

The Innkeeper smiled "No problem"

Allen started walking towards the clown then stopped, realising Damon wasn't behind him, he turned around to see her staring at the goldfish that swam in a bowl on the inn's front desk.

"Elf"

She didn't reply.

"Elfy"

She continued staring.

"Damon!" she jumped and glanced over at Allen, eyebrows raised.

Allen pointed to where Mana was and resumed walking, the girl now following behind him.

"Mana?" the boy whispered looking up at his guardian.

Glancing down at the two kids, the man smiled and gave them a thumbs up.

"Yes, yes of course. The children and I can be there within a few days" the clown posed listening to whoever was talking on the other line "a-huh... Great! See you then. Goodbye"

Mana put down the phone then looking at Allen and Damon, he told them that they would be leaving for a job at the circus that was currently in the town of Kenton, which was a few days away by train. This made the young boy very happy, but the elf was confused.

"Mana" she said "how on earth did you find out about this job when they didn't even know who you were?"

Mana laughed "Well do you remember when we were shopping three days ago?"

"Yes"

"That woman, you know the one selling apples-"

"Ya mean the one that kept tryin' ta shoo ya away from 'er cart 'cause she thought ya where a crazy old coot?" Allen interrupted in a mocking voice.

Mana puffed his cheek in a pout then continued "Well anyway she said I should go to the circus, and I asked if she knew of any that were nearby and she very kindly gave me a phone number to contact this one"

Damon choked back a laugh, the man was so happy-go-lucky all the time that he didn't even notice when people were trying to insult him.

"So we're leaving tomorrow." the clown smiled.

...

The next day the trio were on a train headed for their new job. On the way Mana and Allen were discussing what Damon could do for some of their acts, or what the man thought was discussing because all he did was ramble off about things they could teach her, things that were impossible to learn in only a few days."Um...we could teach her to balance on a ball. Or, or we could teach her to do a backflip."

"Be realistic, ya damn clown," Allen snapped "There's no way we c'n teach 'er ta do all that before we get there."

Mana pouted. "But... It would be so much fun..."

The boy stared at him for a second then slammed his palm into his forehead. He looked to Elf, who was sitting silently staring out the window, fiddling with the fingers the twin rings stuck to. They hadn't been able to get them off, Mana said that they seemed to be welded to her skin or something. Shuddering at the painful thought Allen pocked Elf to get her attention.

"Hey do ya have anything ye're good at? Ya know, besides beating people up?"

The girl shifted her gaze to him, said "Singing" then turned her head away, glancing back out the window watching the landscape quickly pass by, trying not to think of anything. But she could feel the expectant stars of the young boy and the clown.  
sighing she began to sing:

What child is this who laid to rest,

on Mary's lap is sleeping,

whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is christ the King,

whom shepherds guard and angels sing;

Haste, haste to bring him laud,

the babe the son of Mary.

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?

Good Christians, fear: for sinners here the silent word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce him through,

the cross be borne for me, for you,

Hail, hail the word made flesh,

babe the son of Mary

So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh

come peasant, King, to own him

the King of Kings salvation brings;

let loving hearts enthrone him.

Rise, rise the song on high.

The virgin sings her lullaby

Joy, joy for Christ is born,

the babe the son of Mary.

The babe the son of Mary.

Allen thought her voice was like an angel's, a terribly sad angel that was mourning the loss of someone very precious to them. He was filled with a sudden loneliness as he listened to every heart wrenching note, tears almost escaping from his eyes.

As the song ended he looked at Elf and noticed something on her tongue.

"That, that was lovely Damon" Mana said, smiling at her softly "where did you learn that song?"

"Father Jacob" the clown was about to ask who Father Jacob was when Allen stopped him with a glare. He could feel that Damon didn't want to talk about her past. But he asked his own question "Elf, what is that thing on your tongue?"

She froze. The mark he was talking about had caused her a lot of trouble over the years, it was one of the reasons she talked so little. She squinted at the boy, debating whether or not to show him. But she did, for some reason she trusted him, she stuck out her tongue, revealing her birthmark that looked like an upside down star.

"Do ya get any weirder or is this it?" asked Allen, while Mana just kept his gaze on the floor, brow furrowing.

She thought of telling him about the ghosts. But decided against it.

"That's it."

He nodded, saying "Good"

...

_And this is how Allen, Mana and I met._

_All three of us were happy together. We went to many different places to perform, as Mana wanted I learned how to balance on a ball and do a backflip._

_Though Allen and I fought a lot I really did think of him as my brother._

_There were many hardships that we had to face. Like that time a shopkeeper accused me of stealing, another time we ran out of money and had to sleep under a tree for a week, that was terrible, and then Allen got beaten up by some guys in the bathroom 'cause they saw his arm, But none of that compared to the day we were separated. The day that had seemed so perfect only to end in tragedy. The day my family saw what I really was..._

_A monster._


	5. The Hamlets

"Elf" _I looked over to see Siren carrying a paper bag in her arms_ "come on. We have to be back home with these groceries before noon," _she said, then began walking with me following close behind._

_Siren Hamlet, was a friend I recently made in town. Her family owned a hunting equipment shop, and they have allowed Allen, Mana and I sleep in the extra room in their apartment above the store for the last three weeks. In exchange for our lodgings Mana payed a small rent._

"So, You know that orphanage outside town?" Siren began.

"You mean the one run by that guy you and Karie call "Mr. Sexy"?

_Quivering, she smiled_ "Oh yes... So, Mr. Sexy said that he needed some help with the kids, and asked if I would be interested."

"That's great." I said.

"Yep. We can get away from my family, play with adorable children and get payed at the same time! It's perfect."

"Wait, we?"

"Well you're gonna help out too."

"What?"

"At the orphanage. You're gonna work there too, Karie already talked to Mr. Sexy about it, and we both start tomorrow"

"Eh?"

_Not saying another word, Siren chuckled evilly and kept walking, leaving me to think about how on earth I was gonna do this job, seeing how I know nothing about taking care of children._

*****************

"Siren, Elf what took you so long?" asked Siren's mother, standing in front of a shop that had a sign that said Hammy Fammy Huntin' Shop. Apparently Siren came up with the name when she was three.

"Elfy was spacing out again," replied Siren.

Damon blushed. It's not like she tried to 'space out,' it's just that those ghost things keep distracting her.

Siren's Mom laughed "Well I guess that can't be helped. Wash your hands when you get inside it's lunch time."

Everyone was at the dinner table, Siren's two brothers Cole and Jay, her dad Henry, her Mom Cassidy, even Allen and Mana had come back from work to eat Mr. Hamlets' beef stew.

"So Damon, how has your day been?" asked Mana.

Damon has not been a part of many circus performances since the trio came to Alexander, instead she has been helping out Siren with her chores.

"It's good so far," she said "Siren and I are supposed to start a job at the orphanage outside of town tomarrow."

The clown clapped "That's great!"

The girl only nodded, not sure of how great it was.

"So yer actually gonna make yerself useful, huh?" said Allen.

Damon glared at the boy and was ready to snap back when Mr. Hamlet said "Oi, no fighting at the table. You can kill each other after lunch."

Crossing their arms both children groaned in annoyance, which made Mrs. Hamlet laugh.

"Well we could let you starve?" she offered.

The two silently resumed eating.

"Well, daughter of mine," Mr. Hamlet looked to Siren "I don't believe you've told us about this job."

"Nope," said the girl between mouthfuls.

"Well would you like to enlighten us?"

"Not really."

"That wasn't a question, talk, now!"

Sighing, Siren told them about the job offer.

"Father Grimms asked you to work there? Oh, he's hot." That earned Mrs. Hamlet looks from all the males in the room.

"Don't encourage her," said Mr. Hamlet.

"What? It's true!"

Siren drummed her fingers against her mouth and made a creepy face.

"Well this just got awkward," said Jay.

"Indeed," said Damon.

************

The next day Siren and Damon made their way to St. Kenoth Orphanage, along with Allen who had been forced to come by Mr. Hamlet. He said he didn't want the girls alone with "Mr. Sexy".

Upon arrival they were greeted by Karie, their friend that lived at the orphanage.

"Oh guy, I'm glad you're here, now you can take care of these little brats with me," their friend said, shooting an annoyed look at the children playing outside.

"Oh come on they're not that bad," said Siren "right guys?"

Allen only scoffed and mumbled about how annoying it was to be forced there.

But Damon wasn't listening, instead she was looking at a strange yellow... something that was pitching in a tree not far from them.

"Hey?" said Siren.

Damon walked towards the tree.

"Oi, stop spacin' out idiot!" Allen shouted, whacking the girl on the head.

She said nothing for a second then tackled her assailant to the ground.

"Come on guy, cut it out!" Siren tried to pull Damon off her brother but failed.

The girl was yanking Allen's hair, while he was pinching her cheeks. They rolled around, each trying to gain the upper hand, until I voice said "You two, stop right now!"

The two children stopped fighting and everyone looked over to the front door of the orphanage building to see a tall, very good looking man with long platinum blonde hair, wearing white priest robes.

"Karie, Siren are these your friends that will be helping out?" asked the man.

"Uh... yeah" said Siren, while Karie nodded.

The priest, who Damon and Allen guessed was Mr. Sexy, walked over and glanced down at the two on the ground and raised an eyebrow, "I hope you have better manners than this."

Allen got up and gave him a suspicious look.

"Ah, Sorry..." said Damon.

Smiling softly the man said "Violence in never the answer, just remember that. Now come in I'll show you around."

With that, Damon's, Siren's and Allen's jobs at St. Kenoth Orphanage began. However they did not know the horrors that awaited them in the future, or that Mr. Sexy was not all he appeared to be.


	6. Bag 'um And Gag 'um

Damon was in the kitchen of St. Kenoth Orphanage washing dishes, while Karie and Siren played with the kids outside and Allen cleaned up the toddler toys. As she was listening to the voices of laughing children Damon felt something tug on her skirt. Looking down she saw Koda, a young boy that was left here by gypsies because of his strange illness.

"Yes?" asked Damon.

The boy shuffled his feet, He had never been much of a talker though he seemed to be quite attached to Damon. He then held out a black book with the words Grimms' Fairy Tales painted in silver on the cover.

"Can you read me a story?" Koda whispered.

Damon thought about it for a moment then put down the plate she was drying took the boys hand and led him to a corner in the kitchen where she sat down and pulled him into her lap.

"Which story do you want me to read?"

Koda opened his book, flipped through the pages and found the story he wanted her to read: The Water of Life.

Taking the book into her hands Damon began to read "There was once a king who was so ill that it was thought impossible his life would be saved..."

And so she read the tale of a sick dying king whose three son's each went looking for the Water of Life.

When Damon was finished she heard Koda ask "Do you think the Water of Life could make me better?"

The girl said nothing, for she did not know how to answer him. Koda had a illness that doctors knew nothing about, sometimes he would randomly cough up blood, other times he would stop breathing, and once his heart even stopped.

"Hey, Elfy?" Damon looked up to see Siren standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Oh, hi Siren. What's up?"

"Uh... Mr- I mean Father Grimms wants us to go home early today."

"Huh? Why?"

Siren shrugged "Said something about important visitors."

"Ok. Give me a minute to say bye to Koda"

Nodding Siren exited the kitchen leaving alone Damon with the young boy.

"I have to go. But I'll come back early tomorrow and read you another story, ok?

Koda nodded, the girl ruffled his hair and went after her friend.

***********

"So do you know anything about Mr. Sexy's visitors" _I asked once I had joined Siren outside._

"No just that he doesn't want us around when they get here."

_My brow furrowed. Over the last week Allen, Siren and I have been working at this orphanage and the more time I spend with Father Grimms the less I trust him. Now maybe that's just my natural dislike for priests in general, but something was off about that guy, and I wanted to know what._

"Ah, Hey Siren" _She glanced back at me_ "you go ahead of me. There's something I forgot at the Orphanage."

_She raised her eyebrow grinning_ "Like hell there is, you wanna check out these friends of Mr. Sexy don't you?"

"Yeah, I have a bad feeling about all this"_ I admitted_

"You're not the only one, Juliet and Lillian have been goin' nuts the past few days" _said Siren, gesturing to the satchel slung over her shoulder where she carried her two pet rats_.

_I smiled_ "Shall we?"

_Her back straightened,_ "I think we shall."

_As we walked back up to the orphanage I heard the sound of rolling wheels, looking back I saw a carriage half a mile down the road_.

"Quick, hide!" _I said dragging Siren over to some bushes._

_Confused she asked_ "Why are we hiding?"

_I pointed at the carriage, Siren squinted trying to see it better then looked back at me_ "You know your super senses are really helpful."

_I nodded_ "Indeed."

_We waited for a while as the vehicle passed then crawled out of our hiding spot._

"There is only one place that carriage can be going" _said Siren._

"Yeah, and I don't like the smell of those people in there."

"Why what do they smell like?"

_I gave her a grave look_ "Slave traders."

***************

Siren and Damon ran to see the carriage had stopped right where they feared it would, St. Kenoth Orphanage.

Damon glanced around to make sure no one could see them making a break for Father Grimms' office window. Once they were where they wanted to be, both girls peeked inside the priest's office to see him talking to five very big, very dangerous looking guys, who Siren named: Mr. No-hair, Wannabe-cool-guy, Too-sexy-for-my-shirt, Daniel, and Leader Man.

"So how many are we talkin'?" asked Leader Man.

"10-11 kids excluding those who are too young and weak." said Father Grimms.

"I don't like where this is going" Damon murmured.

"Why, what can you hear?"

"Leader Man asked Father Grimms how many kids there are."

Siren frowned in confusion "For what?"

"I have an idea, but I hope I'm wrong..."

"Ages" asked Too-sexy-for-my-shirt.

"Five to eleven, none old enough to be decent sex slaves," replied the priest.

"We'll see about that."

Damon flinched.

"Evenin' ladies" The two girls froze "I don't suppose you'd be spyin' on them would ya?"

Siren and Damon looked back to see a tall man with a scar over his right eye looking down at them.

"would you believe we were bird watching?" asked Siren.

"Not helping" her friends said in a harsh whisper.

The man grabbed Siren by her wrist. "Let me go!" she shouted

"Don't you dare touch her!" Damon growled aiming a kick at the man only to get her ankle caught by his other hand. "Shit" she fought against him but to no avail the man simply lifted her off the ground and walked inside the Orphanage, gathering terrified stares from the children as he dragged the two girls to Father Grimms' office.

Kicking the door open the scared man threw Siren and Damon to the floor, "Looky what I found, a couple of eavesdroppers."

"Damon, Siren, I thought I told you to go home." said Father Grimms, sounding serious and hostile.

Gulping the girls looked to see, not the kind hearted Mr. Sexy they had come to know, but a vicious looking slave trader.

"Let me guess." Damon glared at him "The reason you opened this Orphanage was to sell these kids as slaves"

The priest smiled darkly "Precisely."

"You rotten bastard!" she growled

"Son of a bitch" Siren whispered, looking as if she had been punched in the gut.

"Now, now, children your age should not use such vulgar language."

"Go to hell" Damon spat.

"Oi, brat, learn some manners!" barked Mr. No-hair kicking the girl in the stomach hard enough for her to cough up blood.

"Elf!" cried Siren, scrambling over to her friend.

"I'm... okay" she lied.

There was a bang on the door "Father Grimms? What's going on?" Karie's voice called.

"Damn..." Damon wheezed, trying, with Siren's help, to pull herself up into a sitting position.

Father Grimms walked over and pulled open the door letting the brown haired girl fall into the room, he then turned to Leader Man and said "I think it's time to fetch these girls' families."

Leader Man smiled "You heard the man, bag 'um and gag 'um."


	7. Trinity?

Allen had almost reached the end of the path that led to the orphanage, when the black carriage he'd seen earlier nearly ran him over.

"Holy-" the boy jumped out of the way, swearing at the vehicle as it drove by. "The hell is goin' on today?"

Having a sudden bad feeling Allen quickly got to his feet and started walking once again. Faster this time, not even stopping when people tried to greet him. When he arrived, the boy saw that the door to the shop was smashed in and the windows broken.

"Mana!" Allen burst through the doorway, looking around frantically trying to find any sign that his guardian and the Hamlets were there. But found none.

Suddenly excruciating pain shot through his left arm, making him cry out and fall to his knees.

"Wha-what the hell?" he gasped, then lost consciousness.

Siren watched as Karie stood in the doorway, shock clear on her face as three of Leader Man's goons walked past her "What the hell is going on?" she tried to glare up at Mr. Saxy but flinched at his hostile gaze.

"Oh nothing" said Leader Man sarcastically "Just a tea party. Like to join?"

"Karie run!" Elfy groaned.

The curly haired girl's eye's shifted to her demonic friend and she gasped, "Shit! Elf!"

Anticipating what what Karie was going to do, the little elf yelled for her to flee again, but her companion ignored the warning and made a run for the two girls.

"I don't think so" Wanna-be-cool said grabbing the child by her waist.

"Let go of me you motherf*cking-" He then moved one of his hands to her mouth to silence her.

"No!" By some miracle, Elfy managed to get to her feet and launch herself at Karie's captor, using her abnormal strength to tackle him to the ground.

"Agh, you little bitch." Wanna-be-cool let go of the curly haired girl to slam his fist into the side of Damon's torso over and over, making her grip on his shirt loosen. He then picked her up by the collar of her dress and threw her with all his might against the wall on the other side of the room.

Siren and Karie watched their friend hit the wall. Watched her fall to the floor. Waited for her to get up, but knew she wouldn't.

"Well..." the two horrified girls looked to Leader Man "That was a bit of overkill don't you think Jessie?"

Wanna-be-cool simply shrugged "She attacked me first."

"Uh-huh..."

"It's not like we could use her anyway."

"You bitches!" Siren yelled, tears running down her face.

The men only laughed.

X

_I was standing in front of a church that stood at the edge of a forest. Looking behind me I saw that the trees went all around the building and a large graveyard, hiding it from any overly curious busybodies._

_While taking it all in I noticed that one of the graves closest to the woods had not one living thing near it. The trees were rotted, and the grass yellow and dead._

_As I walked towards it I started to hear crying. Walking faster I soon came to the gravestone and saw that I'd been wrong, there was something living near it, a little girl that didn't look any older than two or three. She was dressed in black which explained why I hadn't seen her._

"Oi?" _I called._

_She jumped and whipped around to look at me. With a jolt I realized that the kid was a younger version of Elfy._

"Who are you?"_ she asked, rubbing the tears from eyes with her sleeves._

"I'm Allen... Who're you?"

_Eyeing me with that suspicious look a her's she slowly said_ "Trinity."

_Trinity? So she was lying when she said she didn't have a name...?_

"Ah... What's wrong?" _god this was awkward..._

"My head and my belly is huwting a lowt" _She whimpered._

_When I looked closer I saw that her clothes were soaked through and she was shivering_ "Well maybe if we go inside, where it's warmer they'll stop hurting."

_I held out my hand._

_She took it._

_And we walked back towards the church._

_But just as I reached for the handle on one of the huge double doors that led into the narthex, Trinity ( I knew her as Damon) tugged at my hand. I looked back and standing there instead was the presant ten year old girl I knew to be my foster sister._

"This is as far as you go Allen." _She said in a soft whisper._

"What do ya mean?"

"I don't know how you got here, but I don't want you to see what's behind those doors."

"I don't get it, what are you talkin' about?"

"This place"_ she waved all around us,_ "is inside me mind."

"So, wait. You're sayin' we're inside your head?" _I stared at her in disbelief._

"Yeah."

"How the hell is that even passably?"

"Like I said, I don't know. But listen Allen, Father Grimms isn't the 'God lovin' man' we thought he was-"

"Well thats a given" _I interrupted, which got me "The Look" women always get when annoyed._

"He's actually a slave trader and he's sending his goons after you, Mana, and the Hamlets."

_I snorted_ "Well unfortunately this warnin' is too late comin', they already got 'em"

_Damon swore. I was about to say something else when the world around me seemed to move, making me sway._ "What the...?"

_Elfy grabbed my shoulders to support me_ "Are you ok?"

"I..." _I tried to look at her but was too disoriented to focus._

"Allen! listen very carefully. I'm pretty sure that Siren, Karie and I are in Mr. Sexy's office with him and some other slave drivers. If Mana and the Hamlets are going to be brought anywhere I think it will be there. But you have to be careful. These guy's are no amateurs."

"Pretty sure?"_ was all I could manage._

"Well I'm unconscious at the moment so I don't know if they've moved-" _I didn't hear her finish before I was plunged into darkness._

_X_

Allen shot up from his place on the floor like a rake that had had its prongs stepped on, only to be plagued by a sudden dizziness and fall over.

While looking at the ceiling, he thought about the crazy dream he had just had. About the church, and the graveyard, and the weird grave that was surrounded by dead plants, and about the little girl, Damon, or rather 'Trinity'. Why the hell had he seen her there? And were was 'there' in the first place?

With all these confusing thoughts swirling around in his head he contemplated going back to sleep. But that was when the full force of what had happened earlier that day hit him, and hit him hard.

His father and sister were being held captive by Mr. Sexy!

Allen had never trusted him. But he never imagined that he would be this bad. Secretly stealing money from the funds for the orphanage, maybe. But human trafficking? That was much worse.

The boy got up again, more slowly this time, and headed for the door. Testing his left arm as he did so. It didn't hurt anymore, but it still tingled.

"Crap" He said, looking outside. The sun had already began to set, he had been out for at least a couple of hours.

**Racing down the sidewalk and back to the road that led to the St. Kenoth, being careful not to bump into anyone, Allen muttered "I don't think we're gonna get out of this mess to easily."**


	8. Siren's Tragedy

_I watched , horrified as Leader Man and the other slave traders dragged my unconscious family members through the door of Mr. Sexy's office, and drop them in the middle of the room._

"Here you go. We got the brat's family just like you asked" _said Mr. No-hair._

"Hey, not that it really matters to me but, why do you want these guys anyway? I mean it's not like there gonna suspect anything when their girl doesn't come back. So why bother nabbing them?"

_Too-sexy-for-my-shirt had a point. Kids disappear all the time. So why go to all this trouble to bring my family here?_

"You see," _began Father Grimms,_ "The Hamlets have a 'Special Blood Type' I suppose you could say. Though none of these special blooded people have been seen in decades, they tend to attracted objects with unique abilities called 'Innocence', and use them."

"Oh really...?" _Leader man said_ "what kind of abilities are we talking here?"

_Yeah! That's what I'd like to know. I've never heard of this..._

"I don't know. It varies from person to person."

"Well, if the special blood this family apparently has hasn't been active in years, then what makes you think that one of them has this 'Innocence' now? And what good would it do you anyhow? Are you gonna use it or something?"

_Mr. Sexy gave a bored sigh,_ "Even if I wanted to I couldn't use it, and to be perfectly honest I don't care if any of them have powers or not. But a client of mine does. And he is dead set on making sure that any power this family possesses is crushed."

_Leader Man nodded._ "I see. So he's a 'don't ask questions' kinda guy, is he?"

"Yes."

_Mr. Sexy, not saying another word, walked over to Jay's limp body, and pulled him up by the hair so he could see my younger brother's face._

"What are-" _my panicked whisper was cut off by Karie's hand covering my mouth, and her free arm wrapping around my chest._

"I'm sorry" _she croaked._

_I struggled, confused about what was going on._

_Looking back on it now, Karie probably saw what was going to happen before I did. And however mad I was with her afterwards, I can't deny that she saved my life. Because, had she not held me back I would have run headlong into the chaos that was about to unfold as Father Grimmes, The man I had until recently trusted, pulled a beautiful silver dagger out of it's sheath at his waist, and slit my brother's throat. _

_I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. Time seemed to stop as I looked at my little brother's corpse bleeding out on the carpet._

"How is killin' the kid gonna find out if he has power's or not?" _asked Daniel._

"From what my client has told me, 'Innocence' has developed a will of it's own, and will protect it's accommodator no matter what. If this is true it would have attacked me before I killed him."

_Jay..._

"Oh..."

_Jay!_

_Funny... the persian carpet that covered the entirety of Father Grimms office floor is the only thing I can remember clearly from that night... As I sat frozen, watching as Mr. Sexy killed my father, mother, and brothers, right before my eyes. Their blood staining the beautiful blues, golds and greens of the carpets design._

"Hmm... It seems that none of them had Innocence." _Father Grimms turned to me,_ "You're the only one left my dear"

_Wiping my relatives blood off his hands and onto his robe, the priest came towards me like a slow unbearable horror. Tears leaked from my eyes with every step he took._

_At first I thought I was moving away from him. But soon realized that someone was pulling me._

"Stay away from us!" _Kaire shouted._

_Father Grimms chuckled, which to my surprise, made me even more terrified._

_In that instant I saw a flash of black and white shoot out from my satchel that lay on the other side of the room. The asshole who brought Elfy and I in here, took it away from me when Mr. Sexy was revealing that he too, was an asshole._

_My pet rats, Juliet and Lillian, then stood before me, making whatever noises rats make when pissed off. _

_In surprise, Mr. Sexy jumped back._

"What the hell?" _Leader Man said confused,_ "rats?"

"Guys...?" _Though I often saw my rats to be more amazing than the ordinary rodent, seeing as how they've never given anyone the plague, I was confused. Were they really abnormal sewer rats?_

_My question was answered when Father Grimms laughed and said_ "Found you."

_My rat's prepared to attack. But they never got the chance. Because Elfy woke up._

XXXXXXXXXX

Because of all the commotion going on Damon was torn from dreamland and forced back into reality. And forced to deal with a mind splitting headache.

The girl looked about the room. But stopped short upon seeing the bodies of the Hamlets.

Bile rose into her mouth at the horrifying sight of their lifeless bloody corpses, causing her to keel over and retch.

What had happened? Why were they dead? Who had done this?

Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, Damon's eyes searched for Siren. Careful to avoid looking at her friends family members. She saw the blond girl and Karie shuffling away from Father Grimms to a corner of the room, Juliet and Lillian standing protectively in front of them.

What is he gonna do to them? Desperation forced the girl's instincts into overdrive, and before she knew it, she was running at Mr. Sexy full force. Knocking him to the ground. And pinning him where he lie.

"Guys, are you alright?" Damon asked in a panicked voice.

"Elfy..." Siren sobbed "He- he-"

"I know..."

"You're still alive!?" The little elf's head spun around to see the shocked faces of all the slave traders.

With a grim smile she retorted "What? You've never seen a demon before?"

"Why you cocky..." Wanna-be-cool fired his gun.

Damon's headache was giving her quite a bit of trouble. Under normal circumstances she would have easily been able doge the man's bullet altogether, but because of her injuries she didn't, and the led went through her right arm.

"Agh!" she cried, loosening her grip on Mr. Sexy. Giving him the opportunity to wriggle free of her hold and grab her instead.

"I am tired of your meddling, you stupid girl. Chadwick! Get the cuffs!"

Leader Man nodded to two of his cronies who ran off and returned with a large wooden box. Inside the box was a number of different handcuffs. He then opened the box and pulled out a type of cuff called the 'figure 8' and walked over to Father Grimms and Damon.

"This should keep you in check" The leader of the slave traders said, and pulling the girls arms around her back he clasped the hand cuffs onto her wrists.

Mr. Sexy then threw Damon to the floor and said "I have had enough! Move the bodies and bring the brats in here for inspection!"

"No!" the demonic girl cried. She struggled with her restraints, but was met by a sharp pain that shot through her rigid arms at the moment.

"Alright. Lets get this over with." Too-sexy-for-my-shirt said, walked over and opening Mr. Sexy's office door.

While the slave traders went throughout the building to find and round up the orphans, Siren knelt down with a dazed and exhausted expression and helped Damon into a sitting position, letting her friend lean on her body to ease the pain inflicted by her restraints.

"A-are you o-ok?" The demonic child could tell her friend was trying her hardest to stop crying.

"Yeah..." She said, her voice strained as she tried to ignore the ache in her shoulders.

Siren only nodded.

Moments later the Leader Man and his goons came back into the room, dragging and carrying sixteen or so children from infants to the oldest who were ten and eleven.

"What going on?" Charlotte demanded.

Charlotte, being the most mature, had seen her self as the caretaker for the other children and was very annoyed when Damon and Siren showed up. Though she didn't seem to mind Allen that much. Damon guessed that she had a crush on him.

Leader Man chuckled "It's simple really. You're bein' sold"

Charlotte's said nothing, for she saw the three girls that were looking at her with apologetic eyes. The little elf most of all. Clearly she hated not being able to do anything.

The orphans that were eligible for slavery were lined up in the middle of the room, including Siren and Karie, while those who were too young or sick were pushed roughly towards Damon.

Koda, who was among the sick, instantly ran to the demonic girl "Elfy. Wha- what's gonna ha-happen to us?" the little boy sobbed, big tears streaming down his face.

Damon wished more than anything that she could hold him and tell him that everything was going to be alright. But she couldn't.

"I don't know... But you have to be strong ok?"

Koda nodded and gathered the other wailing children behind he and Damon, in an act of protection, which the little elf endmired.

Leader Man was inspecting the line of orphans when he stopped in front of Siren and jabbed a thumb at her, "Hey I thought that you had to get rid of this one."

"My client and I made a deal. He gets the innocence and I get whoever had it."

The slave trader nodded and continued his inspection.

After he was done Leader Man said, "They're all fine"

Father Gimms took a deep breath "Good. Load them into the carriage."

"What about the others?" The slave driver asked nodding his head towards Damon and the other children.

"Dispose of them."

"That'll cost ya."

"I don't care."

"Alrighty then."

"Oi! You two!" Leader Man barked at Mr. No-hair and Too-sexy-for-my-shirt, "You're with me and the Slave Farmer here, we're gonna take these brats and sell them. The rest of you dispose of the left overs.

"Uh... boss?" asked Daniel.

"What?"

"How are we gonna get back?"

"I don't know. Walk, Take a train. It's up to you."

"And we have to pay with our own money?"

"Is that a problem?" the leader of the slave traders asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope! Not at all!" his lacky answer a little too enthusiastic.

"I didn't think so."

After that quick conversation, Leader Man, Mr. Sexy, Too-sexy-for-my-shirt, and Mr. No-hair, cuffed and chained the children they wanted and headed out.

"I'll find you!" Damon shouted after them, "I promise!"

Karie only gave her a sad smile. And Siren said nothing.

****Then they were out the door and gone.


	9. The Demon Sleeps No More

_They're gone..._ Damon thought in despair. She had only known them for a few weeks, but Siren and Karie had become like family to her. And she let them be taken away.

"Well let's get this over with" Wanna-be-cool said.

"Damn. I hate killing kids..." Daniel sighed.

The children who were old enough to understand what the two men were saying began to wail louder. Which in turn made the one's not able to understand, grow more agitated and cry along with them.

Damon tried to stand up, oh god how she tried. She couldn't let the orphans be killed. But all her efforts were for not, because the head injury she had received earlier was proving to be more serious than she had first thought. Just trying to focus made her dizzy and nauseous.

"Elf!" the girl couldn't believe her ears "Elfy!?" she didn't know what god she had to thank for this miracle, but whichever it was, she felt as if a lifetime of gratitude wouldn't even come close to what they deserved when her foster brother burst threw the door of Father Grimms' office.

"Ally!" the children called. Koda had come up with the nickname to annoy Allen.

The boy was so overcome with relief at seeing his sister and the others alive and well, that he almost got his head blown off by a man with a gun and a scar over his eye.

"God damnit! There's more of them!" the scared man complained.

"No kidding," Daniel and the others agreed.

Another slave trader, a female, said "Come on. Just kill him."

"Yeah, yeah," The man aimed for the boy again.

He fired.

Damon screamed.

Allen flinched.

But the bullet never hit him.

Koda stood there eyes wide with shock and pain. Then he fell to the ground.

A six year old boy, had jumped in front of his friend to save him. And was now laying on the floor clutching his bloody chest, gasping for air.

"Koda...?" the whisper barely escaped her lips, when the little demon's vision went red.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey, brat!" Cornelius Laeson called to his apprentice, who was brooding in one of the corners of Rozealian Pub smoking a cigarette, while his mentor talked to the intoxicated customers about the man they had been hired to assassinate.

The young man's head turned in the direction of the mercenaries voice.

"These useless brunks don't know anything!" Cornelius complained.

His apprentice sighed, the boy's master was as drunk as the rest of them.

Had his mentor been a different kind of person, the young man would have dragged him out of the pub hours ago. However Cornelius Laeson was known as the cruelest mercenary in Europe. And rightfully so. The boy had enough scars from the man's beatings to prove that.

So instead he stayed in his corner and said nothing.

Just then a man yelled "I know that guy!" and pointed at the picture that the mercenaries had brought to the pub.

"You do?" Cornelius barked hitting the man upside the head. Hard. "Why didn't you say so you asswipe?"

"'C-cause I didn't recognize him at first -Hic-."

"Well? Who is he?"

"His name is F-Father Grimms." the drunkard slurred, "He runs an orphanage -hic- ou-outside of town..."

The young mercenary straightened and walked towards the man, "Where?"

"Huh? Oh. There's a road called 'Kayley' that leads right to it! Follow this street a~ll that way down to the end and you can't miss it -Hic-."

The boy turned to his mentor.

The man waved him off and said "Fine, fine, Go check it out."

"Thank you" the young man said. And he was out the door with and bang.

A road called Kayley... Well this is great how am I going to find it.

Ah yes, that is something the rash lad didn't think of. You see, our young friend here is blind.

Don't misunderstand, he is one of the most skilled mercenaries you'll ever meet. However reading signs is not one of those skills. And thats why it took him so long to find it.

He could have, of course, asked for directions but... He's a guy. They never to.

So by the time he found Kayley Road -someone told him where it was- he could feel that it had gotten quite late with the sudden drop in temperature.

As the young mercenary walked up the dirt road towards the orphanage, he recalled all the things he knew about their target:

James Colavich, known in this town as 'Father Grimms', was a human trafficker well known throughout the European underworld. He had earned the title Slave Farmer for his interesting way of gathering large amounts of child slaves. James would travel from town to town, country to country, pretending to be a priest, and open 'orphanages' where he would raise the children to be perfect slaves. He would then call up some other traffickers to round the kids up, sell them themselves, and 'unofficially' give him half of the money while they kept the other half. This made him difficult to find. Especial because he never used the same cover twice.

Finally, the boy made it to the orphanage.

The moment he stepped inside he was met with the smell of blood. (Being blind caused his other senses to be more... Well, sensitive.)

Slowly, with his hand on the wall, the mercenary crept down the hall. He soon heard loud crying coming from further down the corridor. Assuming that someone could be hurt, the young man rushed towards the sound.

But when he walked into the room where the noise was coming from... Well lets just say it was a blessing for him to be blind. Otherwise he would have nightmares for the rest of his life. For the horrors in this room were gruesome enough to make Lucifer proud.

XXXXXXXXX

Allen was on all fours puking his guts up, until there was nothing left. His body shook without sign of stopping. Tears streamed down his face.

He didn't want to be afraid of her!

But he couldn't help it, not when he had witnessed her rip the slave traders to shreds. Their dismembered limbs cast about the room like playthings. Blood soaking the walls and floors.

I didn't know humans could bleed that much...

Allen tried to swallow his fear and look at Damon... His sister... His best friend... Who was sitting in the middle of her victims mangled corpses, rocking back and forth with Koda cradled in her arms.

"I'm scared..." the boy whispered just loud enough for Damon to hear.

"Y-you don't have t-to be scared" the demon sobbed "you a-are going to be fi-fine!"

"Elfy..."

"uh h-huh?"

"Can you sing me a lullaby?"

"Of-of course!" Damon brushed Koda's hair away from his face with a shaky hand and began to sing:

Aleluiah, Aleluiah, Aleluiah, Aleluiah.

Mo ghaol, mo ghradh, a's m' fheudail thu,

M' ion'ntas ur a's n' eibhneas thu,

Mo mhacan aluinn ceutach thu,

Cha 'n fhiu mi fein bhi 'd dhail.

Aleluiah,

Ge 'mòr an t-aobhar cliu dhomh e,

'S mòr an t-aobhar curaim e,

'S rnòr an t-aobhar umhlachd e,

Righ nan dùl 'bhi 'm laimh.

Ge d' is leanamh diblidh thu,

Cinnteach 's Righ nan Righrean thu,

'S tu 'n t-oighre dligheach, firinneach

Air Rioghachd Dhé nan gràs.

Ge d' is Righ na glorach thu

Dhiult iad an tigh-osda dhuit,

Ach chualas ainglean solasach

'Toirt gloir do'n Tì is àird.

Bu mhòr solas agus ioghnadh

Buachaillean bochda nan caorach,

'Nuair chual iad na h-ainglean a' glaodhaich,

"Thainig Slanui'ear thun an t-saoghail."

B' e sin an ceol, 's an naigheachd aghmhor

'Sheinn na h-ainglean anns na h-ardaibh-

She hadn't even finished the first verse of Taladh Chriosda when the boy's eyes closed. Never to open again.

"Sleep well." The demon said, and kissed the child's forehead. She knew that she had to leave. Once the town's people saw what she had done, slave traders or no, they would try to kill her. But all Damon could do was cry along with the other wailing children.

****"Hello?" A new voice called.


	10. Shigure Yamazaki

"Hello?"

Allen tore his gaze away from the gruesome scene before him when he heard the voice. In the doorway stood a curious looking teen. His trench coat, trousers and boots were all black, and he had shoulder length red hair, with bangs that covered his eyes.

The red haired boy didn't seem shocked or horrified by the blood and limbs that covered the floor, like Allen thought he would be. In fact it looked as if he didn't see them at all.

The stranger's head turned in the direction of the crying orphans.

"Is anybody hurt?" He asked, making his way over to them.

"Koda~" The children wailed.

The young man reached his hand out and touched one of the kid's faces closes to him, a girl named Evangeline who was about seven years old, wiped the tears of her face with his sleeve and pulled a handkerchief out of his coat pocket for her to blow her nose.

"It's ok. I'm going to get you out of here" He smiled.

The girl gave a wry smile in response, which quickly faded when she screamed "Look out!" and pushed the stranger to the ground.

A loud Crack echoed through the room, causing the children to scream and scurry about.

"Elfy! What are you doin'!?" Allen yelled. The cracking sound had been his sister's fist crashing through the wall right above the young man's head.

The teen pulled a gun out of a sheath on his left thigh and aimed it at the girl's head.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" He growled.

Her answer was to pull her arm out of the wall and pounce at him again. He dodged her attacked and shot, but only hit her in shoulder.

"Damn I missed" He aimed again.

"No!" Allen grabbed his arm.

The stranger tried to shake the boy off, but to no avail, "Get off me kid! Can't you see your friend is trying to kill us?"

"She- She gotta to be possessed'r somethin'! She doesn't look normal!"

Allen was right, Damon did look strange. Her hair was a silvery-white, and her eye's were like oily black pools that had no emotion in them whatsoever. Under them were lines that went down her face and other marking seemed to decorate the rest of her body, but were partly covered by her cloths. Her nails had turned into claws. Her canines had grown into long fangs, and the mark on her tongue was glowing purple.

The young man hesitated. What if she really was possesed?

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" His turned to the boy.

Allen bit his lip "I have no Idea..."

The young man sighed heavily. "Alright. If I can't kill her then what do I do?"

A sudden idea sparked as the two dodged another blow.

"What triggered your friends...outburst?" the redhead asked in a strangely calm voice.

"W-wha?" Allen's voice was nowhere near calm.

"Why did she go berzerk?"

"Oh, ah, 'cause Koda died."

"Koda?"

The boy nodded over to the child's body "That's 'im there"

The teen shook his head "Um, I'm gonna need more direction than that."

Allen gave him a puzzled look. Which of course the young man didn't see.

"I'm blind."

The boy said nothing for a moment, then shrieked "YOU'RE BLIND AND YA USE A GUN!?"

Now it was the stranger's turn to be puzzled "Why is that always the first question?"

_This guys an idiot..._ Allen thought.

"Anyway why do ya wanna know what made her freak out?" still holding the red head's arm the boy quickly led him to where the dead child lay.

"We have to get her out of here because if she stays in here with the kids much longer she'll end up killing them. And my guess is she'll target anyone who is directly connected to the reason she's upset. So if I do this..."

The stranger bent down and picked up Koda's body "...She'll-" He hadn't even finished talking when Damon tackled him to the ground, making him drop the child, and started punching him repeatedly.

"As- I- suspected- OW!" he said in between punches.

"He's so stupid..." Allen sighed, "weren't ya suppose ta get out the door before this happened?"

"That- Was- Plan-"

"Sorry about this Koda..." said the boy, as he picked up the child's corps, knowing that he had to get Damon out of the room.

Just as Allen made it out the front door and outside, a sharp pain shot through his leg causing it to buckle. He glanced down to see three large gashes on his left thigh.

Lifting his head back up he looked at Damon with a look of pure sadness.

"Elfy, please... It's me. Allen, your brother. I know this ain't you! Ya have to fight it!"

He begged and pleaded. But nothing worked. Instead of giving up, he struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain, and staggered over to his sister, hugged her and buried his face into her shoulder.

"Ya must hate me..." He sobbed "Koda died 'cause a me! I couldn't save him or the Hamlets o-or you! I'm sorry I'm so weak!"

Allen knew that what he said hadn't affected her in the slightest, and that he was going to die by her hand. But he only hugged her tighter, closed his eyes, and waited for the finishing blow.

But it never came. And the reason for that was the three words that come from the person the boy thought he'd never hear again.

"Damon Walker, stop!" Mana's voice rang through the air. And Damon's body stopped moving.

XXXXXXX

_"It's hot... It smells like... blood and rotting flesh... Where am I? I'm...I'm afraid to open my eyes... Was what happened... real?"_

_I didn't know if that was a nightmare... Or reality. The excitement that the sight of their blood gave me was sickening. The sound of my own blood pounding in my ears was almost deafening. But not so that I couldn't hear them scream. How strange... it's all so clear, and yet... It's as if the one that did all this... wasn't me..._

_**Hee hee, You're close.**_

_"Who are you?"_

_**You. But not you.**_

_"That doesn't make any sense."_

_**It does and it doesn't.**_

_"Mmh..."_

_**If you don't believe me... Just open your eyes.**_

_I did. But I wish I hadn't. Because what I saw... Was _hell_._

XXXXXXX

After Mana had called out to the Damon she had broken out into a fit of screaming and crying.

"Mana what's wrong with her? Why won't she stop screamin'?" Allen asked his foster father, panic evident in his voice.

Before he could reply a low booming voice shouted "Freeze!"

Allen and the old clown's heads whipped around to see the sheriff of Alexandra, Stefan Helope, and about a dozen other officers, pointing guns at the them.

"I don't wanna hurt you and your kids, Walker, so just come quietly and nobody has to get hurt."

"W-why are you here?" the boy asked.

"One of the kids from the orphanage called..."

Allen flinched and pulled Damon, whose wailing had calmed to soft hiccuping noises, closer to him.

"This is about my daughter." Mana didn't say it as a question.

Sheriff Stefan nodded slowly, "Yes it is. And I'm afraid we're going to have to take her from you."

Allen open his mouth to tell the sheriff he'd have to kill him to get to his sister, but didn't get the chance before the red headed stranger showed up. Taking a defensive stance between the officers and the trio.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"Who are you?" Stefan's studied the teen.

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Shigure Yamazaki and that girl," red hair pointed at Damon "is going to help me find a serial-killing slave trader I'm looking for."

"And who is this serial-killing slave trader exactly?"

"James Colavich. But your town knows him as Father Grimms."

"No way! Father Grimms is a good man!" one of the men shouted.

"Father Grimms is a liar, a human trafficker and a murderer! Nothing about him was good by any stretch of the imagination." Damon yelled from her crouch on the ground.

"Shut it kid. How do we know you didn't kill Grimms, eh?" another officer said.

The girl shot to her feet, noticing her actions made Allen flinch, then strode forward and took up a place beside Shigure.

"Oh I will." her words came out on a growl "And every other scumbag like him. And I promise you, I'm not going to jail until I do.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." said the sheriff, "You're coming with us. Now."

Damon tensed to run, calculating her scenarios of escape, when a gruff voice said "So we're takin' the girl are we brat?"

****Damon and Shigure both felt a heavy arm drape over their shoulder.

"Care to explain?"

Shigure paled "Y-yes sir..."

****The man smirked "I'm waiting."


End file.
